Without You
by HexxKitten
Summary: A Broken hearted Hermione does the unthinkable to be with her soulmate again.


This is set during the direct aftermath of the final battle. The magical world is in tatters. The rebuilding of lives cannot start until the losses are counted and the grieving begins.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

b** Without You**/b

i_How can you live when life ripped out your heart? How can you live with your soul torn apart?_/i

Harry wiped the tears from his cheeks as he continued to read the letter aloud so that Ron could hear.

i_I cannot live without him. Without him I have no life to live. I just beg that you my best friends and wand brothers can forgive me, even if you cannot understand._

_I will not have suffered at all, and I know this seems the cowardly way out. But it was a choice taken of my own volition and I spoke of my plan with no-one. So do not ever think that you or someone else could have prevented this._

_You did so well my boys in destroying Voldemort and our world can be rebuilt bigger, better and stronger. _

_But without him in it, this is no world for me. The potion I took will have simply put me into a deep sleep from where I would have slipped to the other side. I know he will be there waiting for me. _

_There is but one fear I have and that is facing him and his legendary anger at my actions. But I know he will understand in the end, as will you my loves. _

_Would that life have been different: I could have fallen in love with Ron as everyone believed, and Harry with Ginny. But I want you both to know that; yes I knew..._ /i

Ron and Harry exchanged glances with each other and Ron mouthed "no way!"

Harry gave him a watery smile "come on Ron, you know we could never hide anything from her."

i_Be good to each other my boys and love each other with all of your hearts. _

_Do not fear other people and their reactions. You must live your lives true to yourselves and no one else. _

_I learned this the hard way. My love was hidden and so much time was wasted. We both made plans for 'afterwards' and 'later' but our time was stolen from us. _

_So please love each other with openness and honesty. _

_Oh and Ronald, please think from time to time before you fly off your broom. Harry loves you. That much is obvious and I know you love him equally._

_There are but two things I ask of you now that I am gone, please do not waste your lives mourning mine. I am going where I want to be. I will be with him and we will be happy. I'll merely be in another place. _

_My final request is that you bury me with my love. There is a photo enclosed with my letter, it is the only one we ever had of the two of us together, you can see how happy we truly made each other._

_Be well my loves, I will always love you and we will look in on you from time to time. So don't let me catch you moping!_

_All My Love Always_

_Hermione_/i

Harry and Ron stood silently at the graveside for an age. They both stood holding hands and silently weeping. Everyone else had long since walked back up the hill away from the lake and back into the castle. Leaving the two of them alone for a while.

Mere days had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts and the whole of wizarding Britain was upside down had someone to mourn.

Now Hogwarts had three white marble graves under a huge oak tree beside the lake. Of course Albus Dumbledore lay here in the grounds, and now they were here too.

A small snicker escaped from Ron and Harry turned to look at him like he was cracked.

"Don't look at me like that Harry." Ron smirked "I was just thinking how strange it was to see Professor Snape in white!"

Harry stared at Ron and then back to the white graves and he actually joined him in laughter.

But it was short lived. For how could they laugh standing by the side of their best friend's grave? "I still cannot believe it was Snape all along" Ron whispered.

"I know. But it does kind of make sense if you think about it. They were both highly intelligent and very bossy" Harry shrugged "and the heart wants what the heart wants" he smiled and Ron, raising their clasped hands he kissed the back of his lovers hand.

Taking out his wand Harry stepped up to Hermione's grave. He twirled the wand like he had once seen her do for him. A wreath of beautiful white flowers now rested against her headstone. He then repeated the process to leave flowers for their old Potions Professor and Headmaster. "Take care of her for us..." he whispered.

"Come on" said Ron, pulling Harry towards the castle "time to face the family again."

As the two young men walked back toward the ancient stone edifice, two figures stood watching them leave.

"They will be alright won't they Severus?" Hermione whispered as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"They will be fine my darling witch" Severus drawled, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders "but you on the other hand are still not in my good books Miss Granger!"

"Oh no Professor, not detention." She snickered "You were happy to see me though weren't you Severus?"

"I was both delighted and heartbroken my love. You were supposed to go on with your life witch, and meet me at the very end. Not now. You were meant to have a husband and a family!" He had turned her and was looking into her eyes "Hermione you were supposed to have a life not this, not yet!"

Hermione raised her hands and took his face into her palms "Severus without you I had no life. I could have no life. You are my heart, my soul. You are my Husband in my heart and there could never be another." She smiled at him "We can stay here for as long as we wish. I read all about the afterlife..."

Severus smirked "of course you did my love, I should have known. So you have a grand plan for us I take it?"

"Of course I do" she laughed "we stay in the afterlife, we can visit with family and friends who have been here for a while. Then when we are ready we can go back."

"Go back? Hermione darling, we are dead. We cannot go back" Severus shook his head sadly; he was praying she had not died with a foolish plan to resurrect them both.

"No silly, Hermione and Severus cannot go back, but we can. One day we can reincarnate, be together in life once more. Maybe even getting the family we planned for. But for now, I am happy to stay here with you."

Severus picked his witch up into his arms and swung her around "have I told you recently that I love you?"

"Yes..." she smirked "but you can say it as often as you wish and I will never complain"

A small cough from behind them drew their attention to the fact they were no long alone. They turned and both burst out laughing as they saw standing beneath the tree which shaded their graves there was a tall thin wizard with a long white beard and blue twinkling eyes. He held out a paper bag toward them and smiled "sherbet lemon?"

~ * ~ The End ~ * ~

A/N

Sorry... this came to me as a dream , I cried when I woke and I cried when I wrote it.


End file.
